Evita (1996)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Alexander D

  
  EVITA most certainly is not the best musical, but it has somewhat good acting, two great lead actors, and fantastic (I repeat: fantastic) music. For some strange reason, I think Madonna should have won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1996, because she did a splendid job… More
  EVITA most certainly is not the best musical, but it has somewhat good acting, two great lead actors, and fantastic (I repeat: fantastic) music. For some strange reason, I think Madonna should have won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1996, because she did a splendid job performing as the title character, Eva Peron, a woman who has been poor as a little girl and, though also having experience as a prostitute, actress, and singer, inherits power over Argentina. EVITA, to compare with another Andrew Lloyd Weber silver screen adaptation, is a lot better than 2005's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. On the list of musicals that are likely to be remembered half a millennium from now, this is somewhere slightly below OLIVER!, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, and THE SOUND OF MUSIC, and just barely above RENT. It is one of those musicals that once you have heard the first sing, you are hooked until the very last song and are therefore stuck to the TV for two well-spent hours watching the point here the History Channel and Broadway meet.

• Spencer S

  
  This film includes the largest amount of costume changes in history, so you already know it's lavish. Taking all the leather and lace away from this production, you're left with no plot, all music, and two hours of watching Madonna spiral into an abysmal performance. Eva… More
  This film includes the largest amount of costume changes in history, so you already know it's lavish. Taking all the leather and lace away from this production, you're left with no plot, all music, and two hours of watching Madonna spiral into an abysmal performance. Eva Peron, Evita to her people, deserved a bit more of a bang for her buck.

• Jennifer D

  
  Haha! Antonio Banderas' part was the best bit. I think his kind of phantom character/ narrator role was very good and witty. And I thought Madonna did a fantastic job, too bad she hasn't done that since with acting. With a more analytical look, I thought it interesting the… More
  Haha! Antonio Banderas' part was the best bit. I think his kind of phantom character/ narrator role was very good and witty. And I thought Madonna did a fantastic job, too bad she hasn't done that since with acting. With a more analytical look, I thought it interesting the two (technically) main characters were white, Madonna and Pryce. But in Madonna's defense, she can sing and dance really well and pulled off the look very well. The biggest thing that grated on me what the full on opera-style musical. And the fact it's and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical wears on the brain a bit. >_<

• Lady D

  
  The impressive production by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice brought to screen by an impressive cast. There may have been doubt over Madonna being a lead in this film during it's release, when in actual fact I can not imagine anyone else portraying Eva Peron in quite the… More
  The impressive production by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice brought to screen by an impressive cast. There may have been doubt over Madonna being a lead in this film during it's release, when in actual fact I can not imagine anyone else portraying Eva Peron in quite the same way. Antonio Banderas gives a charmed performance as Che (perhaps his best role to date) who is cleverly worked in to all the scenes to act as a Narrator. Eva Peron?s ambitions were, perhaps, ahead of her time for a woman of that era and shows quite an honest account to the life she lead up until her early demise. Fans of this film or Musical Theatre in general, should definitely watch the stage show which is equally impressive.

• Robert C

  
  It's RARE that a film staring Madonna (or co-staring for that matter), amounts to much. She's basically 'box office poison' as far as I'm concerned. But this was actually a beautiful film to watch and (to spite her warbling weak voice) wasn't too… More
  It's RARE that a film staring Madonna (or co-staring for that matter), amounts to much. She's basically 'box office poison' as far as I'm concerned. But this was actually a beautiful film to watch and (to spite her warbling weak voice) wasn't too unbearable to listen to. The strong supporting cast, great set design and cinematography helps. This is HIGH PRAISE comig from someone who can not stand Madonna and rarely enjoys musicals.

• Candy R

  
  Madonna was brilliant but Antonio can't sing.

• Lafe F

  
  Evita has great songs and scenes. Based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway play, Alan Parker Directed it it in real Argentina settings. Madonna plays Evita wonderfully. It's large in scope with a huge cast. The songs are very catchy and beautiful. The story is a bit sad; it… More
  Evita has great songs and scenes. Based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway play, Alan Parker Directed it it in real Argentina settings. Madonna plays Evita wonderfully. It's large in scope with a huge cast. The songs are very catchy and beautiful. The story is a bit sad; it starts with the announcement of Evita's death and has a huge funeral and mourning montage before transporting us back to Evita's humble beginnings. The film then follows her rise to become Argentina's first lady. I loved all of the songs, especially "High Flying, Adored", "Goodnight and Thank You" and the stunning "A New Argentina". It was all so thrilling, before I knew it, Evita's "Rainbow Tour" had come to an end. Gosh, I love Evita.

• Michael G

  
  So painful. So very painful. I like to call it Velveeta.

• Jedd Y

  
  I really enjoyed Evita and thought it was very enthralling. Compared to the other big cinematic Andrew Lloyd Webber film, 2004's The Phantom of the Opera, I thought it was so much better. Sure, it amounted to not much more than a caricature of Eva Peron, but it was a surprisingly… More
  I really enjoyed Evita and thought it was very enthralling. Compared to the other big cinematic Andrew Lloyd Webber film, 2004's The Phantom of the Opera, I thought it was so much better. Sure, it amounted to not much more than a caricature of Eva Peron, but it was a surprisingly good performance by Madonna. My Mum was saying it's a pity she isn't in more films. Her voice is a little "pop" and not very "Broadway", but it was a good performance. I also really enjoyed Antonio Banderas as the narrator Che, a one-man Greek chorus who is critic, observer and well, critic. He pops up everywhere in various personas and it's very entertaining and amusing. Jonathan Pryce is also great as President Peron himself, shortly before he decided to ham it up as a Bond villain in Tomorrow Never Dies. And then of course there's the music. Andrew Lloyd Webber is a musical genius, no matter what his critics say. You can dance to almost every song in Evita, and there's a distinctive Argentine flavour in the beat. Tim Rice's lyrics are also witty and appropriate, and there's so much variety ranging from the exuberant "Buenos Aires" to the sad and emotional "You Must Love Me", and of course the most famous of them all, "Don't Cry For Me Argentina". My favourite song in the film was "High Flying Adored" an observation on how far Eva has come, delivered by Antonio Banderas in his charming exotic accent. It's overall a very atmospheric film with a wonderful period flavour provided by on-location filming in Argentina itself and Budapest. Seek it out if you like musicals, Evita will win you over if you don't.

• George N

  
  OH MY GOD!!! Amazing music, preformances, story, cast, direction! EVERYTHING about this movie reeks of INCREDIBILITY!!!

• ashley h

  
  It would have been better if it had dialogue and wasn't song after song,but it was still a decent movie.

• meril l

  
  Can I say, Wow!? Super rich, luscious music, as only Andrew Lloyd Webber can write, coupled with a crazy, exciting plot full of enough affairs, deceit, and singing to make any musical-lover swoon. Some musical lines ought to have been said instead of sung, but what can you do? Mostly… More
  Can I say, Wow!? Super rich, luscious music, as only Andrew Lloyd Webber can write, coupled with a crazy, exciting plot full of enough affairs, deceit, and singing to make any musical-lover swoon. Some musical lines ought to have been said instead of sung, but what can you do? Mostly it rocked, though Banderas' role as Ché seemed more than a little pointless/goofy. And poor Jonathan Pryce. No credit whatsoever.

• Marcus W

  
  I don't know if it was the lack of plot, the fact that every single word in this film is sung or that Madonna has never really impressed me as an actress, but this film did nothing for me. Using "rock & roll" during a bloody revolution does nothing for the tone… More
  I don't know if it was the lack of plot, the fact that every single word in this film is sung or that Madonna has never really impressed me as an actress, but this film did nothing for me. Using "rock & roll" during a bloody revolution does nothing for the tone either.

• Sarah B

  
  Madonna? She ruined the gorgeous Andrew Lloyd Webber songs, made Antonio Banderas seem unattractive and showed she still can't act. The girl from the Corrs showed her how it should've been done. Madonna really can't act to save her life and they should've cast an… More
  Madonna? She ruined the gorgeous Andrew Lloyd Webber songs, made Antonio Banderas seem unattractive and showed she still can't act. The girl from the Corrs showed her how it should've been done. Madonna really can't act to save her life and they should've cast an unknown in the part as it took away from the story.

• Sarah P

  
  This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Madonna gives her best film performance along with Antonio Banderas. Everything is perfect!

• Robert F

  
  I felt sorry for Eva at the end. I don't remember it having so many musical numbers - I liked many of the songs though.

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